Advocacy

Art of Resistance

Art of Resistance is a community of young artists who seek to use their art as a way to express their faith in Jesus, their desire to see justice flood the earth, and to effect nonviolent social change in Australia by challenging the way we perceive the world.

Art has an important place in great social movements. It helps express alternative values. It provides a canvas for people to envision a different reality to that which is sold to us through “official” channels.

AOR has not been operating during 2013, but stay tuned for more info in 2014. In the meantime check out the Art of Resistance website, which features the amazing works of artists who have been involved in the project.

Art, Faith and Change: A Vision for Art of Resistance

Art of Resistance is a project bound to the idea that there is an important connection between art, faith and social change.

For change to happen in the world people need constant inspiration – without it their ability to envision a better world diminishes. Art has a transcendent, even mysterious, potential to energise us by critiquing the current reality and imagining a new one.

For Christians this mystery, though unfathomable, is not surprising; God was the first master artist, sculpting a world of immense beauty. Humans, made in his image, share in this transcendent creativity – it is in our bones to want to “make”.

And so we “make” – humans have been responsible for creating awe-inspiring works of art and architecture, sometimes representing goodness, sometimes evil. Art has the power to effect both kinds of change.

But is it any wonder that the kind of creativity that God used to bring the Universe into being might also be used by his image-bearers to make the world better?

The Bible itself presents different art forms – poetry, song and narrative for example – as a way of expressing a unique and life-giving hope for the world.

Perhaps some of the most powerful biblical art is the work of the apocalyptic authors (e.g. Daniel, Revelation). These people sought to shift the symbolic universe of their readers, to change the lens through which readers view things, helping them imagine a better world. In practice this looked like composing a transcendent narrative that inspired hope and resistance in the face of oppressive foreign empires.

Our prayer is that the Art of Resistance community would embody this creative prophetic spirit which seeks to see the oppressed released from the captivity of injustice.